An Unusual Asteroid Turned Out to be Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster
On Jan. 2, the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced the discovery of an unusual asteroid, designated 2018 CN41. First identified and submitted by a citizen scientist, the object’s orbit was noteworthy – it came within 150,000 miles (240,000 km) from Earth, closer than the Moon’s orbit. This qualified it as a near-Earth object (NEO) worth monitoring for potential Earth impacts.
However, less than 17 hours later, the Minor Planet Center (MPC) issued an editorial notice, revealing that 2018 CN41 was not an asteroid at all – it was a car.
To be specific, it was Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster mounted to a Falcon Heavy upper stage, launched into orbit around the Sun on Feb. 6, 2018. The car, previously owned and driven by Musk, served as a test payload for the Falcon Heavy’s maiden flight, attracting attention as the first car to be sent into space along with a mannequin named Starman in the driver’s seat.
This case highlights a larger issue – the lack of transparency from nations and companies operating in deep space, beyond common satellite orbits. The increasing number of untracked objects could impede efforts to protect Earth from potential asteroid impacts, waste observational resources, and disrupt statistical analyses of near-Earth asteroid threats according to astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
As nations and companies explore space beyond the Moon, the problem is set to worsen. Currently, deep space lacks regulation compared to Earth orbit, where satellites are closely monitored and tracked by national and international agencies like the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.
Objects in deep space, like the Tesla Roadster, are less scrutinized and don’t follow standard industry practices of disclosing trajectories. This uncharted space poses challenges for astronomers and space agencies and presents potential hazards in space navigation.
In response to these challenges, the American Astronomical Society has called for increased transparency in deep space operations, advocating for updated trajectories of objects to be publicly reported in a central repository like NASA’s Horizons database.
While the Tesla Roadster incident caused a mix-up, it also highlighted the importance of citizen scientists in astronomy. Amateur astronomers like the one who identified the object play a crucial role in discovery, contributing significantly to the overall efficiency of object identification.
Despite the disappointment of the misidentification, the incident has led to valuable lessons and improvements in the identification process. Mistakes are inevitable in science, but quick corrections ensure that scientific progress continues.
As citizen scientists like the amateur astronomer mentioned in the article continue to make discoveries and contribute to the field, their involvement remains essential in the broader mission of astronomical research.